Gibborim
Every year, The Pride gathered at the Wilder residence, using the excuse of an "annual charity fundraiser", while in reality, they would perform the "Rite of Blood", a ritual sacrifice of an innocent young female victim; the spirit of the victim would then be fed to the Gibborim in the "Rite of Thunder". The Gibborim’s power faded over time, and they came to dwell in a “realm of slumber,” the very same dimension they fled to after the Pride fell, until they moved underwater to mystically summon the six couples who would comprise the core foundation of their covert group. After Janet Stein became pregnant during their third year as The Pride, The Pride agreed to end its struggle against one another. Each couple would instead ensure their child would receive one of the six places in the coming paradise, so The Pride's legacy could go on. Unbeknownst to the rest of The Pride, the alien Deans and the mutant Hayes had made a deal; to murder the rest of The Pride and take the six tickets in paradise for themselves and their daughters, Karolina Dean and Molly Hayes. After seventeen years in, the Rite of Thunder was interrupted by the children of the Pride. In response, the Gibborim killed all the members of the Pride in the final explosion. Seeking refuge in a limbo-type dimension, a time-displaced Geoffrey Wilder made contact with them upon being placed in present day. They ask him to bring them a sacrificial soul in order for them to raise Alex and Mrs. Wilder from the dead, however this plan was foiled by the Runaways (although Gertrude Yorkes was killed). Later, Chase Stein contacted them, striking a deal to raise his late girlfriend, Gertrude Yorkes, from the dead in exchange for an innocent soul. Chase attempted to offer himself (after realizing that he couldn't bring himself to kill another person), but ultimately failed, since the soul had to be unwilling. Without a soul, the Gibborim ended up fading to a dimension of nothingness: merely white space which was where Alex was sent after death. During the House of M reality warp by the Elder God Chthon-powered Scarlet Witch restructured Earth-616 in accordance to the heart's desires of its inhabitants. The Pride ruled over not merely Los Angeles, but all of southern California. The Gibborim was thus certainly revived from the void in this reality. | Habitat = | Gravity = | Atmosphere = | Population = | Powers = The Gibborim also claim to be capable of resurrecting mortals, even after they passed into the Great Beyond, whereas death gods and even some cosmic beings capable of obliterating entire worlds cannot, though they apparently require an innocent soul to do so. The Gibborim are also capable of restructuring the entire world and eliminating the entire human race if fueled with enough soul-energy, and can mystically generate fire intense enough to incinerate a human, teleport a dozen people from various locations and times to one location, dispel the dark spell of the Minorus conjuring bats, and all possess a high level of immunity to harm, be it physical or energy-based. They can create enchanted rings and tomes of powerful functions. | Abilities = | AvgStrength = | Weaknesses = | GovernmentType = | TechnologyLevel = | CulturalTraits = | Representatives = | Notes = * It is implied by Alex that the Gibborim are actually "children" of something higher and formed The Pride by their command; another possible interpretation of this is that though the higher beings they serve mean no genuine malice or harm, the Gibborim believed such actions would earn them their favor and tried to seize the planet over the humans in the names of their masters. The latest edition of the Official Marvel Handbook, after confirming the Gibborim are indeed “mystical” in nature, says it is unrevealed for how long the Gibborim has ruled the Earth before the dawn of humanity (and how this could be so, due to the presence of the Elder Gods, Celestials, alien visitors, and other beings of any purpose and diversity), and also says it is unclear if there were ever more than three of them. *The Handbook also refrains from openly stating that the Gibborim are dead, but rather gone to a “Limbo-like dimension,” where they met Alex Wilder’s spirit. It is unknown if this is truly death, as it compromises other Heaven/Hell concepts in Marvel, as well as the entity Death itself. * The Gibborim's personal nature and origins is largely unknown, though, due to Alex's statements to them in the void, it is hinted they are religious, if extremely misguided, servants of the Heavenly Father or another higher being, himself. It is unknown whether the Gibborim fall under the category of supernatural creatures, Principalities, gods, or cosmic entities; however, certain Marvel writers appear to show that they are considered Elder Gods. * Intended or not, Gibborim is the Hebrew word for heroes. | Trivia = | Links = * Gibborim (comics). (2006, December 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:26, December 27, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gibborim_%28comics%29&oldid=95626733 }} Category:Priority Copy Edit Category:Runaways Villains